Police have stepped up vigil in Gujarat's Surat district in the wake of tension following a minor girl's rape and murder, for which a migrant from Bihar has been named as the main suspect, a senior official said Wednesday.
The body of the three-and-a-half-year-old girl, who had gone missing, was found Monday in a locked house in the same building where she lived in Surat city.
The migrant labourer has been named as the main suspect by police in the case, Surat police commissioner Satish Sharma told news agency PTI.
The police have increased vigil in Surat as a precautionary measure, in view of the current situation across Gujarat where Hindi-speaking migrants, particularly from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, were targeted following a rape incident in Sabarkantha district last month.
"The situation is tense (in some pockets of Surat) not because the suspect is from Bihar, but because such an incident has happened. People are asking why such an incident took place. They (locals) are not against people from Uttar Pradesh or Bihar," Sharma said.
He said the police were "trying their best" to nab the man and that they were in touch with cops in those areas and regions where he could have possibly gone after the incident.
The suspect, whose identity has been withheld, was apparently known to the girl's family, he said.
The victim and her parents, who hail from Maharashtra, lived on the first floor of a house in Godadara locality, while the suspect used to live on its ground floor, where the body was found, he said.
To avoid any unwarranted situation, some precautionary measures have been taken and the police are keeping a close watch, Sharma said, adding that locals have also been urged to keep calm.
"People have been assured that the police are doing their job (to trace the culprit)," he said.
According to Sharma, as many as four incidents of rape of minors have come to light in Surat in the past 15 days.
"In all the four cases, the accused were either relatives, family friends, neighbours or known persons. In this case, the victim's family knew the suspect as they used to live in the same house," Sharma said.
He said they have initiated a drive in the city to make people understand the hazards of leaving their children alone or trusting neighbours or known persons.
Thousands of migrants have fled Gujarat following a spate of attacks on them early this month after a migrant worker from Bihar was arrested by police for allegedly raping a 14-month-old girl in Sabarkantha district on September 28.
(PTI)
